linsley



March 4, 1941. D. F, LINSLEY 2, 33,790

FLUID PRESSURE OPERATED GEAR SHIFTER if I LL- I n O O:

- Filed y 25 36 2 Sheets-Shet 1 7 March 4, 1941. v D. F. Ll NSLE Y I2,233,790

FLUID PRESSURE OPERATED GEAR SHIFTER Filed May 25 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Mar. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLUID PRESSUREOPERATED GEAR SHIFTER Douglas F. Linsley, Norwalk, Conn.

Application May 25, 1936, Serial No. 81,568

2 Claims.

apparatus operated substantially automatically by means of a source ofvacuum.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a simple,easily operated automotive transmission which in certain respects is animprovement upon the device shown in my prior Patent No. 1,733,502 andin other respects is an improvement upon the device shown and claimed inmy prior Patent No. 1,966,865.

A, further object is the provision of a novel and improved transmissioncontrolling device in which the clutch and gear shifting devices areboth operated by fluid pressure, and may, if desired, be controlled by acommon control such as the accelerator pedal or other throttlecontrolling means.

Further and more specific objects, features and advantages will moreclearly appear from a consideration of the specification hereinaftertaken in connection with the accompanying drawings which form part ofthe invention and which illustrate a present preferred form of theinvention.

The invention briefly comprises the combination of a drive shaft, asource of vacuum such as the intake manifold of an internal combustionengine or its equivalent, a set of transmission gears, means actuatedbythe vacuum for shifting said gears, a, clutch, power means foroperating the clutch and preferably controlled by the engine control andmeans for locking and unlocking the gear shift so that the vacuum mayeffect the shift.

In addition, a further feature comprises a main vacuum control valvenormally closed but opened by the operation of the clutch just after theshift lock is released by the clutch to permit the vacuum to be appliedto the gear shift.

A further feature comprises means whereby the main vacuum control valveand the gear shift lock mechanism may be operated automatically by thevacuum instead of by the clutch, and are specially connected through aspecial valve controlled from the steering post or some other pointconvenient to the driver so that whenever the main selector valve ismoved to establish a desired vacuum relation to shift gears the vacuumis applied to the mechanism operating the lock and the main controlvalveto open the control valve and release the lock and whereby theseelements are restored to their shut and locked position whenever thecontrol element is returned to any one of several normal positions. Thisparticular construction is applicable to free wheeling but is providedwith simple means under the control of the operator so that it can betransformed to the conventional system wherein the application of vacuumto the gear shift. is primarily dependent upon the position of theclutch, but in any case is dependent upon the foot or the hand beingreleased from the fuel supply element such as the hand throttle or thefoot pedal.

A further feature comprises the combination of a source of vacuum, adrive shaft, a set of trans- 'mission gears, a clutch, and means forapplying .vacuum from said source to shift the gears together with avacuum selector valve associated with the gear shifting mechanism todirect the vacuum as desired. This selector valve is controlled from aselector control lever on the steering post connected'to the valve by asuitable wire or other connecting element. Simple spring operated meansare associated with the valve, so that when the valve is moved to oneparticular position the above mentioned spring is put under pressure byengagement withthe valve so as to automatically restore the valve toanother position when the control lever is released. This applies torestoring the valve to second speed condition from high speed condition.

A further feature comprises the details of the construction of theslidable pistons in their cylinders and the gear shift casing so as tocontrol the flow of air from one side of the piston to the other andsoften or cushion the action of the gear engagement to avoid clashing.

The present preferred form of the invention is illustrated in thedrawings which form part of the specification and of which:

Fig. 1 is a plan .view of the apparatus; Fig. 2 is a rear end elevationthereof; Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross-section;

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section through one of the cylinders;

Fig. 5 illustrates schematically the general system controlling theapplication of vacuum to the gear shift and clutch actuator and themanner in which the gear shift lock and the main vacuum control valveare automatically regulated through the movement of the manuallyoperated control lever on the steering post; and

rods l5 and I 6 project through the front and ports 32 in the cylinderI4,

rear walls of said cylinders and extend suitable distances therebeyond.These piston rods respectively support pistons I1 and 18 thus dividingeach cylinder into compartments A; B, C; and D.

At the rear of the casing a cross piece I 5 is channelled to receive adrift lock formed of two bored bars 25 and 2|, with the bores adjacentand receiving a spring 22 tending to force the bars 20 and- 2| apart.The piston rods l5 and I5 are provided with notches or grooves such as23 to receive the respective-ends of this drift lock. The aggregatelength of the drift lock rods 25 and 2| is equal to the distance betweenthe bottom of one of the grooves 23 to the normal edge or. surface ofthe other piston rod. As shown in Fig. 3 the drift lock is engaged inone groove and the other end of it is lightlybearing against the face ofthe other piston rod. When both piston rods are in the so-called neutralposition as indicated by the piston l8 in Fig. 3, then the drift lockbars 20- and 2| will be spread apart by. the spring 22 to simultaneouslyenter both notches or grooves 23 and latch the piston rods in theneutral position. Otherwise it will be observable from the conditionshown in Fig. 3 that the piston rod its neutral position to any otherposition until the piston rod l5 has been restored to its neutralposition. This prevents the movement of one rod to shift gears while theother rod is in a gear shifting position. 7

Piston rod I5 is connected to a depending yoke 15", while piston rod I5is similarly connected to a depending yoke 43, and these yokes engageand slidethe transmission gears l5 to effect the various changes ofgears in the transmission. 1

Adjacent each of the compartments A, B, C and D are disposed valvecasings such as 24 each containing an air inlet port 25, a vacuum port25, a cylindrical valve sleeve 21, a spring 28 pressing said valve on aseat 29 and a compartment inlet port 30-normally closed by the springseating of the valve. Each of the cylinders I3 and I4 are provided witha neutral vacuum inlet chamber 31 connected to the respective cylindersby means of a pair of small passages 32 suitably spaced apart for apurpose hereinafter described. Pipe 33 connects the spring valveassociated with compartment A,

pipe 34 extends from'compartment B and both pipes 33 and 34 areconnected to a pipe 35. Pipe 31 extends from compartment B and bothpipes 33 and 34 are connected to a pipe 35. Pipe'31 extends fromcompartment A and pipe 35 extends from the spring valve chamberassociated with compartment B. nected to a commonpipe 39. The'samerelative arrangement of pipes is shown in connection with cylinder l4.chambers 3| are connected to pipes 40.

The pipes 35, 39 and 45 above mentioned lead to a vacuum selector valveand. connect thereto in any suitable manner to be later described sothat the control of the vacuum or atmospheric air to any of these pipesis controlled in any well known manner by the movement of this selectorvalve.

Each of the pistons l1 and I8 are constructed in any desired manner, butin any event they are provided preferably with cylinder engagingbevelled or sloping leather disks such as 4| and 42. Referring to pistonl8 and considering the vacuum when the movement of the selector valveplaces vacuum in compartl5 cannot be moved from 1 41 pressed-thereintoby tions.

shown in Fig. 4 by means Pipes 31 and 38 are con- The neutral vacuuminletment C and admits air pressure to compartment D the piston I5 willmove to the left. As the right hand port 32 is uncovered air will enterthrough said portinto the vacuum chamber 3! and will then pass throughin port 32 and press.

of air above described tends to slow up the movement of the piston,these actions are so designed and correlated that this softening orslowing up occurs just as the gear elements are about to be engagedwhereby the engagement of the gears is softened and undue clashing ofthe gears is avoided. It will be.obvious from a consideration of theconstruction that this softening action applies when either piston ismoved in either direction to engage the gears.

On top of the casing surrounding the cylinder just described there isdisposed a valve casing 44 in which is disposed a slidable controlvacuum selector valve 45 provided with any suitable ports and passages,not shown in detail except in Fig. 4. The back of this valve is providedwith notches 45 respectively engaged by a ball a spring 45, to latch thevalve in any one of several predetermined posi- This 'valve 45 ismanually operated preferably by means of Bowden wire 45 passing througha flexible tube 55' and leading to a manually controlled lever shown as5| in Fig. 6, preferably located on the steering post of an automobile,or in any suitable position adjacent the hand of the operator.

Below the chamber of the selector valve 45 the valve casing is chamferedto receive a main vacuum control valve 52 held in the position of aspring 53. The chamber in which this valve 52 operates is connected byapipe of vacuumwhich pipe of an internal combustion engine. A port 55 inthe control valve 52 is adapted to be connected to a similar port 55 inthe valve casingv above the valve 52 leading to a chamber '51 in theselector valve 45 immediately thereabove. In the normal position of thecontrol valve 52 these ports are not engaged (as shown) so that normallythe vacuum is not made available to the control of the selector valve45. The control valve 52 has an end 58 extending from this casis ofsufficient width to extend over the rearward extension of both pistonrods l5 and I5. This a. lever 5| connected in any suitable- 54 leadingto any suitable source may be the intake manifold lock bar has adepending lower edge 53 adapted to be engaged in anyone of three notchessuch as 54 in the respective piston rods. These notches 54 and thepiston rods are disposed in such combination with said rods that theyare beneath the lock bar 52 to be engaged thereby whenever therespective piston'rods are in gear engaging positions or in the neutralposition. This lock bar 52 may be formed integral with the lug 58 andoperated therewith by the action of the.

clutch as above mentioned.

In Figs. 3 and 4 are shown collars 4 on the ends of the piston'rods I5and IS. The collars by yoke construction connect respectively to theends of arms 5 one of which is mounted on a sleeve H5, the other ofwhich is mounted on a shaft III extending up through the fioor of thecar and having on their upper ends respectively arms 8 and H8. Thesearms can therefore be manually operated to shift either one or the otherof the desired piston rods to effect the gear shift changes desired orto throw the gears into neutral position. Preferably, these manuallyoperable arms are mounted so as not to be in the way of the feet of theoccupants'of the car. If desired this manual operating means may bepositioned at either end or elsewhere on the device. The piston rods arealso provided with apertures I50 near their ends to enable the operatorto insert a screw-driver or other pointed instrument to enable him tothereby shift the gears manually, if and wh n the apparatus is notprovided with the above described arms for manual shifting.

Means are also provided for automatically disengaging the clutch 58'when the throttle is at idling position and for this purpose there isprovided a suction cylinder I8 having its piston 80 connected to theclutch operating lever 80' by link 8|. Suction is applied to thecylinder 80 through pipes I8, I8, and 18a. under control of valve 82which is connected to the accelerator pedal 83 by means of a resilientconnection 82', while the accelerator pedal is also connected to thethrottle valve 83' by the usual rod 84. When the throttle is opened bydepressing pedal 83,

' valve 82 is closed allowing engagement of the clutch 88', while onallowing the accelerator 83 to return to idling position undertheinfluence of spring 85, the valve is opened disengaging the clutch bythe venting through valve 82.

I In this system there is shown a source of vacuum such as the manifoldintake pipe I8 of an engine; the gear shifter device H of the type 'justdescribed; the selector control lever 5|; a 'vacuum cylinder I4containing a piston I5 and a piston rod I6 connected by a link 11 to thelug 58 and the lock bar 52 previously discussed. The manifold I3 isconnected by-a pipe I8 to the clutch actuator and power shifter. ingvacuum to the gear shifting means, and controlling the application ofvacuum in accordance with the condition of the clutch so that the gearsare shifted only after the clutch is fully disengaged, vacuum pipe I8connects with pipe 18" which passes through valve 8| to valve 81, andvalve 8| is connected to clutch lever so as to be opened on completedisengagement of the clutch.

The mechanism on the steering post, in any form of the invention,comprises the selector control lever 5|. In the form of the inventionshown in Fig. 5, this lever 5| is associated with a rotary valve 81having a port 88 broad enough to-connect the pipe with the pipe 85 whenin the position shown in the figure. Tliis pipe '88 is connected to thevacuum cylinder I4. The port is 'also'adapted to connect the pipe 85with the pipe 81 when the valve 81 is moved to another position and thispipe 81 is connected to the atmosphere. In this form of the inventionthe pipe For apply- 54 already described connects with the pipe 88instead of directly to the intake manifold as previously mentioned. Thevalve 81 has an arm I00 connected thereto and resting on top of thelever 5| This lever has a yoke |0| thereon pivoted on a shaft I02 sothat the lever 5| can be lifted out of any one of the notches I08 andmoved laterally to move the vertical shaft I04 to which it is connected(see Fig. 6). The shaft I04 has an arm I05 at its lower end connected tothe Bowden wire 48. A spring I06 connects with the valve 8'! to hold itin the position shown in full lines. The quadrant I01 on which the lever5| slides is provided with a raised lug I08 between the neutral andreverse notches of the lever 5| as shown in Fig. 6. This is to preventthe driver from carelessly sliding the lever into reverse positionwithout lifting it considerably above the g a notch the valve 81 isop'erated and transmits vacuum to pipe 85 to cylinder I4 and the chamberof the valve 52. Therefore the lock 82 is released and the valve 52moved to open position.

For the purpose of making the operation of the valve 45 clear it hasbeen shown in Fig. 5 schematically as being separated from the gearshift casing H, although as noted in Figs. 3 and 4 it is disposed on topof the casing just above the control valve 52. The port 58 is identicalwith engine port E shown in Fig. 5 on the diagram layout of slide valve45 so that whenever the control valve 52 is moved to the open position,vacuum is applied to this port 58 and the valve seat line and has alongitudinal portion and several lateral off-set portions. In the valveseat II 0 indicated in thedotted line below the slide valve I05 thereare formed several ports indicated as follows: No. a port leading to thefirst gear compartment of the shift; No. 2, a port leading to the secondgear compartment; No. 8, a port leading to the third orhigh gearcompartment; R, a port leading to the reversejgear compartment; twoports N leading to the neutral compartments 3| shown in the otherfigures. The valve 45 is also provided with apertures III, ,I I2 and 3extending therethrough and constituting air passages. Extending fromthese ports R, 2, 3 and the two N ports are pipes as follows, whichcorrespond to the pipes previously mentioned with respect to thedescription of Fig. 3; pipe 40 leading from the N ports to the neutralchambers 3|, pipes 88 extending from ports I and 3 to the respectivefirst and third gear chambers as shown in Fig- 3; and pipes 86 extendingrespectively from the reverse and second gear ports to the correspondingcompartment of the shift as shown in Fig. 3. I

In the full line position of the valve 45 shown in the drawings the twoneutral ports are connected directly to the vacuum port E andconsequently the two pistons of the shift are either in or will be movedinto the neutral position in a manner previously described. Moving thevalve 45 to the left one step will connect port I with the vacuumchannel and the port E and will close the upper neutral port but allowthe lower neutral port to remain connected to the vacuum. It will alsocause the reverse chamber port R to be connected toatmosphere passageIII. In this position, therefore, vacuum will be applied through thepipe 39 to the first gear compartment and atmosphere will be applied tothe reverse gear compartment which is on the opposite side of the pistonH, for instance. By having the lower neutral port also supplied withvacuum the other piston l8 is held in neutral position.

Moving the slide valve 45 further to the left will shut of! port I butwill connect port 2 to the vacuum, closing the lower neutral port butconnecting the upper neutral to the vacuum, at the same time the thirdgear compartment through the port 3 is connected to the atmospherethrough passage 3. Moving the slide valves further to the left the thirdgear position is obtained in which the upper neutral port is connectedto the vacuum together with the third gear compart ment through the port3 and the port 2 is connected through passage 2 to the atmosphere. Inthis manner, it will be observed that in the neutral position only theneutral ports N are connected to the vacuum so that both pistons aredrawn to their neutral position. For any other position of the valve inwhich a connection is made toone of the compartments of the shift toapply vacuum thereto, it will be noted that the compartment on the otherside of the piston from said compartment is connected to the atmosphereso as to assist in the operation of the device while at the same time,the other piston unit which isnot being moved is connected to the vacuumso as to tend to hold it in the neutral position.

From this operation it will be observed that as soon as the controllever 5| is moved to a desired lateral position the slide valve 45 hasassumed any one of the positions described and the proper connectionsare made and at the same time the control valve 52 is opened and thelock 52 re--' leased. As soon as the lever 5| is allowed to drop intoits proper notch the valve 91 is actuated to cut off the vacuum from thecylinder 14 and connect it to the air which will cause the control valve52 to be'disengaged and the lock applied.

In order to shift gears, therefore, it is necessary to move the lever 5|to the desired position and then hold it out of, its notch in thisposition, long enough for the gears to be shifted by the vacuum.

' From the construction described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4 itwill be noted that'piston II is in the neutral position and piston I1 isin a gear engaging position. If another gear change is to be madethecontrol lever 5| is movedto the position desired.

Assuming that this position is such that it is desired to move piston l8to the left. In order to do this suction must be applied to compartment-C and air pressure to compartment D. Before the piston l3 canmove,-however, the piston I? must be returned to neutral position. Consequently, pipe connections are such that when the control lever ismoved to this desired position, vacuum is applied to the chamber 3|connected to cylinder I3, applying a vacuum to the compartment A throughthe pipe 40. This will cause the piston I! to start to move to the left.It will keep moving to the left until both ports 32 are covered,whereupon it will stop. As it gets to this position the drift bar 2|!will spring into engagement with the groove 23 on the piston rod l5 andthis rod will then be latched in neutral position.

The movement of the control lever 5| to effect the desired change hasconnected vacuum to the compartment F through pipe 31 and vacuum to theback portion of the spring pressed valve asto neutral. This is possiblebecause engagement of lock bar 20 in the notch 23 will expand the driftlock sufficiently to permit the lock bar 2| to be moved from its notch23 and allow the piston l5 to move. As the piston moves to the left fromthe neutral position shown in Fig. 3,

the air in compartment D will pass through' port 32 into the chamber 3|and will enter through the left port 32' and press against the leatherlip 4| of the piston moving it sufllciently to cause some of the air toleak into compartment C thus causing the vacuum to decrease therein,reducing the difference in pressure between the two compartments justbefore the desired gears are engaged and thereby softening the shock ofengagement and avoid undue clashing of gears. Under the action of thevacuum the piston will continue its movement until the gears .are fullyen Setting of the control lever, of course, does not move the gears butmerely sets "the selector valve 45. The gears are not moved until theclutch pedal has been presseddown to its fully disengaged position, inwhich position the connection between the clutch and the lug 59 and thelock bar 52 has caused the lock bar to be released from the piston rodsand the lug to move the control valve 52 so as to connect ports 55 and56 and allow the vacuum through pipe 54 to be applied to the chamber ofthe selector valve 45. Thisparticular shift of gears having beeneffected the clutch may. then be released, which will automaticallyallow the piston rods to be locked by the re-engagement of the lock bar52 to be disengaged through action of spring 53 and move to the positionshown in Fig. 4.

It will be apparent that'when the selector valve 45 is moved to the highspeed position and the clutch is operated, that the high speed shift is-made in the manner above described, the position of the valvedetermining the compartment to which vacuum and atmospheric air pressureare to be respectively applied.

While the invention has been described in detail and with respect to apresent preferred form thereof, it is not to be limited to such detailsand forms since many changes and modifications may be made in theinvention without departing from therewith, and will permit the controlvalve 52,

i the spirit and scope of, the invention in its matically operating'theclutch, means for manually operating the clutch', pneumatic power I tingthe pneumatic power means into or out of action, and manually" operablemeans for shifting the gearing when the pneumatic power means is cutout.

2. In a gear shift mechanism for automobiles,

a transmission gearing, a clutch, means for manually operating theclutch, pneumatic power means for operating the gearing and coordinatelyopening and closing the clutch, and manually operable means for shiftingthe gearing in 5 the event of derangement of the power means.

DOUGLAS F. LINSLEY.

